The Black Death

[Lucius]

He never used any preservative against the infection, other than holding garlic and rue in
his mouth, and smoking tobacco. This I also had from his own mouth. And his wife's remedy
was washing her head in vinegar and sprinkling her head-clothes so with vinegar as to
keep them always moist, and if the smell of any of those she waited on was more than
ordinary offensive, she snuffed vinegar up her nose and sprinkled vinegar upon her
head-clothes, and held a handkerchief wetted with vinegar to her mouth.

I found this too on another site:

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cures_plague_1665.htm

Those who stayed in London did all they could to protect themselves from the plague. As no one knew what caused the plague, most of these were based around superstition. In 1665 the College of Physicians issued a directive that brimstone ‘burnt plentiful’ was recommended for a cure for the bad air that caused the plague. Those employed in the collection of bodies frequently smoked tobacco to avoid catching the plague.

“For personal disinfections nothing enjoyed such favour as tobacco; the belief in it was widespread, and even children were made to light up a reaf in pipes. Thomas Hearnes remembers one Tom Rogers telling him that when he was a scholar at Eton in the year that the great plague raged, all the boys smoked in school by order, and that he was never whipped so much in his life as he was one morning for not smoking. It was long afterwards a tradition that none who kept a tobacconist shop in London had the plague.” A J Bell writing in about 1700.

It seems that folks back then took the tobacco cure seriously.

wow I'm shocked at how networking sites, where you can find out the and connect the facts

 

[Lucius]

This reminds me of what I've read lately:

on:
Colloidal Silver and black death.

"Already in ancient times used antibacterial properties of silver. Drinking from silver goblets, or throwing a silver coin into milk or water protracted stability and freshness of the liquid. However, during the fourteenth-century plague in Europe, wealthy parents, as a way of pestilence, they gave their children silver spoons to suck. In the nineteenth century in Germany, discovered that a mild silver solution disinfecting effect for eye inflammation, while not irritating the mucosa. Even today, practices holding a silver spoon in his mouth, which leads to the disappearance of herpes. Known for over 90 years, colloidal silver is considered a natural cure"

http://www.suplementydiety.pl/index.php?id=3

 

[Gertrudes]

I think that being in an optimal state of health (considering the environment we have to contend with) is going to be very important over the next few years. That means getting the gut healed, calming down the insulin/stress hormones, making sure that all the cells in the body are well-constructed, etc. And it seems that this means the low carb, high meat/fat diet. It can take months for the body to repair itself if it is the right materials, so best to get on with it.

That might explain why at the end of this article: _http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/31/1687276/european-food-contamination-kills.html
released today, it reads:

The World Health Organization said 86 percent of those sickened in the current outbreak were adults, and two-thirds were women. It said it was unusual that more children weren't affected.

Maybe children's organisms are simply less "poluted" therefore less prone to become sick? Or maybe there's another reason entirely.

 

[nofretete1969]

I think that being in an optimal state of health (considering the environment we have to contend with) is going to be very important over the next few years. That means getting the gut healed, calming down the insulin/stress hormones, making sure that all the cells in the body are well-constructed, etc. And it seems that this means the low carb, high meat/fat diet. It can take months for the body to repair itself if it is the right materials, so best to get on with it.

That might explain why at the end of this article: _http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/31/1687276/european-food-contamination-kills.html
released today, it reads:

The World Health Organization said 86 percent of those sickened in the current outbreak were adults, and two-thirds were women. It said it was unusual that more children weren't affected.

Maybe children's organisms are simply less "poluted" therefore less prone to become sick? Or maybe there's another reason entirely.

I could find a germen side for description to the Black Death. I could read there a great many natural catastrophes preceded the plague, which weakened the general state of health of humans very much.

It will be a very importantly thing.

 

[Voyageur]

Ryan, do you feel an article coming on???

Funny you should ask that... :) I was thinking the same thing.

Go for it RyanX

Recently between family and friends, for some of us, after explaining the many benefits of smoking, received the standard rebuttal of "Your just in Denial of the facts". Their minds were made up and instead of looking at other causation for ill health, even if they smoked themselves, the embedded subjective facts remained unmovable. Sent them an email with some new light to their facts and have not heard back - se la vie.

 

[Ca.]

Articles describing the supposed, recent fungi, and some of the effects of the Virus that spread to those whom have been effected, since the F-5 ( http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89chelle_de_Fujita ) tornadoes that swept through Joplin, Missouri.

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service: On 11.06.2011 at 04:43 GMT+2n (See Situation Update)
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?cid=31102

It is publicly unknown how many of over 1700 treated May 22 Missouri tornado victims now suffer the wrath of a rapid, aggressive fungal infection in their wounds that is causing nerve damage, blindness, brain and lung blood clots and death, but Thursday, health officials issued a staff warning about the killer fungus now that at least nine people have been treated and three or four died due to it. Dr. Uwe Schmidt, an infectious disease specialist at Freeman Health System, said three or four people with the infection called zygomycosis have died reported the News Leader. Although medical staff knew that the killer fungus was causing serious complications the week after the tornadoes, the situation was kept under cover until Thursday. Still, a close approximation of the number of people infected with the deadly fungus is not being revealed. In the deadly tornado aftermath that destroyed Joplin, Missouri's St. John Hospital, Freeman Hospital doctors treated over 1,700 patients while St. John Hospital doctors treated patients in emergency makeshift facilities at Memorial Hall and McAuley Catholic High School.

The Zygomycosis fungus invades underlying tissue - the underlying blood vessels, and cuts off circulation to the skin causing the area to become black according to Dr. Schmidt who says it is "very invasive." Head wounds are the most lethal, while the fungus remaining in an arm or leg have required amputation to save the patient according to Tornado victims wounded near the head have died. As soon as brain tissue started dying, it was too late to save the patient" according to the Leader. The real number of victims with the deadly fungus is unknown as the "report of numbers of cases of reportable diseases are handled by public health departments," according to Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for St. John's Hospital in Springfield, who has been referring all questions to Springfield-Greene County Health Department. Only a week after the tornado, three fungal infection patients were admitted to Freeman Hospital and doctors tried controlling the fungus with intravenous medicine and by removing killed tissues. Dr. Schmidt said that he and other medical staff could see mold in the wounds. "It rapidly spread. The tissue dies off and becomes black. It doesn't have any circulation. It has to be removed."

Tornado-ravaged Joplin confronts new scourge: By David Martin, Thu., Jun. 9 2011 at 3:06 PM
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2011/06/tornado-ravaged_joplin_confron.php

​They survived the tornado but not the fungus it left behind.
Health officials in Joplin attribute three or four deaths to zygomycosis, a rapidly spreading and often fatal fungal infection. "It's difficult to say if it killed them, but it definitely was a contributing factor," Dr. Uwe Schmidt tells the Springfield News-Leader. Schmidt, an infectious disease specialist, says he has treated five patients and knew of four cases that had been found at another hospital.

A health department official says the fungus was likely distributed by soil or vegetative materials grafted to the skin by the force of the May 22 tornado. Schmidt said he saw mold in the wounds he treated.

Schmidt amputated the arm of one patient in an effort to the halt the infection. She later died.

Fungal infections often accompany natural disasters. Infectious disease specialists warned survivors of the 2005 Asian tsunami about the risks.

 

[Voyageur]

[quote author=c.a.]
Articles describing the supposed, recent fungi, and some of the effects of the Virus that spread to those whom have been effected, since the F-5 tornadoes that swept through Joplin, Missouri.[/quote]

[...]The Zygomycosis fungus invades underlying tissue - the underlying blood vessels, and cuts off circulation to the skin causing the area to become black according to Dr. Schmidt who says it is "very invasive." [...]

Fungal infections often accompany natural disasters...

Perhaps the subtle natural types, too, caused by earth/planetary cyclical changes that humans have not been exposed in a long time. These things also possibly seem to be changing rapidly around us without our direct discernment on a microbiological levels.

This is scary and the negative diet changes in generality for the western immune system (and more) might be an accelerant for these changing levels. This reminds me of the recent issues with bats and white-nose syndrome, the fungus that seemed to develop out of nowhere and is spreading like wildfire across North America.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/168364-Mysterious-Bat-Disease-Decimates-Colonies-Newly-Identified-Fungus-Implicated-In-White-nose-Syndrome

A previously undescribed, cold-loving fungus has been linked to white-nose syndrome, a condition associated with the deaths of over 100,000 hibernating bats in the northeastern United States….

The fungus - a white, powdery-looking organism - is commonly found on the muzzles, ears and wings of afflicted dead and dying bats, though researchers have not yet determined that it is the only factor causing bats to die. Most of the bats are also emaciated, and some of them leave their hibernacula - winter caves where they hibernate - to seek food that they will not find in winter.

...They noted that parallels can be drawn between the threat posed by WNS and chytridiomycosis, a lethal fungal skin infection that has recently caused precipitous global amphibian population declines.

 

[Laura]

Fungi really like carbs. I would think that people on the low-carb, paleo diet would be far less susceptible to fungi than people who eat a lot of carbs.

 

[Oxajil]

I'd say the same goes for viruses. Whenever I take in too many carbs, especially sugar, the virus I carry starts growing quite nicely. So a low carb diet definitely works. Not to mention keeping the inflammation down, any heavy inflammation, either caused by casein, pesticides or gluten can make it grow heavily as well.

 

[Aeneas]

In reading the book "Return of the Black Death" by Susan Scott and Christopher Duncan, my attention caught this little narrative about one of the survivors of the plague:

Margaret Blackwall (whose house is still standing in Eyam) was living with her brother Francis, the other members of the family having died earlier. She eventually conctracted the disease and appeared to be in the terminal stages when her brother, who had cooked his breakfast, poured the excess fat into a jug, which he left in the kitchen. When he went out he was certain that she would not be alive when he returned. Shortly after his departure Margaret, who was delirious, was overcome with a great thirst (a typical symptom of the plague); she left her bed and, finding the warm fat that she assumed to be milk, drank it greedily, probably causing her to vomit. When Francis returned, not only was Margaret still alive, but she was clearly much stronger; she recovered and remained convinced that the bacon fat had cured her.

It will be surprising to learn that Francis and Margaret Blackwall are probably, from our point of view, the most important historical characters in this chronicle of the plague at Eyam. One of the descendants of Francis Blackwall is alive and living in Eyam today. As we shall see later, molecular biologists have studied her genetic make-up and are able to show how Margaret Blackwall 300 years ago was able to contract the plague and survive. It had nothing to do with bacon fat.

In light of what we now know about the importance of animal fat for the cell membranes integrity and therefore the strength of the immune system then I don't think it is completely justified to throw "the bacon fat cure" out of the window. The authors suggest that the fat made Margaret vomit, but is that a justified assumption? Whether the bacon fat could act so quickly is of course another question worth asking.

There is also the fact that all the other members of the family died of the plague. Was that because they didn't have the genetic mutation or did they have the genetic mutation, but a compromised immune system. So the question is whether having the mutation on the CCR5 gene would be enough in and of itself to safeguard against the virus and without regard to the general state of the body and the immune system?

 

[SeekinTruth]

Thanks for posting that, Aeneas. Very interesting questions you've raised. I'm also inclined to think that throwing out the "bacon fat cure" too quickly could be a mistake. And the C's mentioned that the increased fat should also help against a return of the Black Death....

 

[Skyalmian]

Uh, _http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/4115?share_ref=Ih3sfGZxN_w :

The bubonic plague once wiped a third of the world's population — and now, Black Death is sparking one of the worst outbreaks globally in years.

Black Death has already killed 20 villagers after a sudden outbreak in Madagascar, and the Red Cross warns the island nation is at risk of a plague epidemic. Even worse, strains of the disease seem to be spreading, and may even be mutating to populate at lower elevations.

The World Health Organization needs to send help to Madagascar, and to keep this potentially deadly disease from spreading. With antibiotics, bubonic plague is now treatable — but without them, this devastating illness will cause lymph swelling, pustules, gangrene, and an agonizing death.

_http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/shadow-of-bubonic-plague-grows-on-madagascar-1.1660936
_http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/black-death-returns-bubonic-plague-2947538

 

[Keit]

I'd say the same goes for viruses. Whenever I take in too many carbs, especially sugar, the virus I carry starts growing quite nicely. So a low carb diet definitely works. Not to mention keeping the inflammation down, any heavy inflammation, either caused by casein, pesticides or gluten can make it grow heavily as well.

I've noticed something interesting since starting the diet. Once, almost every time I got a cold or a flu, it was followed by herpes labialis (cold sore). And that's reasonable, because herpes virus persists in the body in the dormant state and gets activated when ever the immune system is being compromised. It also likes to get activated when ever specific type of bacteria is present. For example, pasteurella is associated with herpes zoster.

But for some reason, since starting the high fat diet and eliminating gluten it failed to appear (knock on wood), and for sure, since then my immune system was compromised at least once. I even ended up with pneumonia one time. Not sure what's going on, and maybe it has to do with several contributing factors and different strains, but there you have it. So who knows what kind of neutralizing effect high fat/low carb diet can have on other viruses.

 

[loreta]

I'd say the same goes for viruses. Whenever I take in too many carbs, especially sugar, the virus I carry starts growing quite nicely. So a low carb diet definitely works. Not to mention keeping the inflammation down, any heavy inflammation, either caused by casein, pesticides or gluten can make it grow heavily as well.

I've noticed something interesting since starting the diet. Once, almost every time I got a cold or a flu, it was followed by herpes labialis (cold sore). And that's reasonable, because herpes virus persists in the body in the dormant state and gets activated when ever the immune system is being compromised. It also likes to get activated when ever specific type of bacteria is present. For example, pasteurella is associated with herpes zoster.

But for some reason, since starting the high fat diet and eliminating gluten it failed to appear (knock on wood), and for sure, since then my immune system was compromised at least once. I even ended up with pneumonia one time. Not sure what's going on, and maybe it has to do with several contributing factors and different strains, but there you have it. So who knows what kind of neutralizing effect high fat/low carb diet can have on other viruses.

I agree with you, Keit. This diet is absolutely amazing. I had a cold 2 weeks ago and the fever last just one day. I recovered so fast from the cold, without taking nothing. Just follow my diet and take lemon. Plus continuing to smoke. So it is smoking and low carb diet that help us in this situation, I am sure. Before this diet I always have heavy colds and bronquitis, not anymore. :) This diet protect us at many levels.

 

[sacriface]

I agree with you, Keit. This diet is absolutely amazing. I had a cold 2 weeks ago and the fever last just one day. I recovered so fast from the cold, without taking nothing. Just follow my diet and take lemon. Plus continuing to smoke. So it is smoking and low carb diet that help us in this situation, I am sure. Before this diet I always have heavy colds and bronquitis, not anymore. :) This diet protect us at many levels.

Same here, since starting the KD, which was nearly a year ago I haven't been sick once.
Usually at least one seasonal cold or flu was in store, but not since.